Small Steps: Improved NY Times Language on Target of Hamas Rockets
Earlier this week, we pointed out how a New York Times article about fighting between Israel and Hamas neglected to inform readers that Palestinian rockets were fired indiscriminately toward civilians in Israeli towns and cities.
This was part of how the newspaper created a false equivalence between Hamas’s rocket attacks against civilians, each one a war crime, and Israel’s counterstrikes against Hamas assets in Gaza. Instead of being clear about where those rockets were aimed, the report said only that they were fired “into Israel” or “across much of southern Israel.” It even suggested Israel’s civilians were unintended targets: “On both sides of the Gaza border,” wrote David Halbfinger, the newspaper’s Jerusalem bureau chief, “civilians caught up in the fighting said they felt terrorized by it.” Israel’s civilians weren’t “caught up” in the fighting. They were targeted in the fighting.
With an article published today, entitled “With Small Steps, Palestinians and Israelis Try to Tackle Gaza’s Ills,” the same author took a… small step in the right direction. This article makes clear, at least, that the fighting involved “hundreds of rockets raining down on Israeli cities.” It might not sahre that Hamas is viewed internationally as a terror organization, or that indiscriminately firing into cities is a violation of international law. But rockets raining on cities is certainly more informative than rockets fired into Israel.
More from SNAPSHOTS
CNN’s Ben Wedeman Falsely Reports No Soldiers Injured in Gaza Border Violence
June 17, 2018
In a June 7 broadcast and online here, Ben Wedeman incorrectly reported that in the course of the ongoing "March of Return" violence at the Gaza border, "No Israeli soldiers were killed or injured during [...]
Where’s the Coverage? Hezbollah Helps Hamas Build Terror Camps, Israel Calls for U.N. Help
June 12, 2018
Well equipped Hamas operatives Hezbollah, the Lebanese-based, Iranian-backed terrorist group is helping Hamas build rocket factories and terror training camps in southern Lebanon, according to a Jerusalem Post report. Hezbollah’s assistance violates several United Nations [...]
Where’s the Coverage? Israel Foils Assassination Plot Targeting Netanyahu and Others
June 6, 2018
Israeli authorities uncovered and thwarted a terrorist cell that planned to murder top governmental officials, including the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat. However, many major U.S. news outlets [...]
U.S. Official: Iran’s Support for Hezbollah Greater Than Previously Thought
June 6, 2018
Hezbollah head Hassan Nasrallah The Islamic Republic of Iran’s support for Hezbollah might be greater than previously thought. Tehran gives the Lebanese-based terrorist group $700 million a year, according to recent remarks by the U.S. [...]
Where’s the Coverage? 14 Members of Congress Call to Halt PA Aid
June 1, 2018
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo In a widely underreported move, fourteen members of the United States Congress called upon the U.S. State Department to “immediately suspend all aid payments to the Palestinian Authority.” The [...]
Why Does a NY Times Journalist Want to Suppress an Anti-Hamas Article?
May 29, 2018
A New York Times journalist thinks the Wall Street Journal shouldn't have published an opinion piece criticizing Hamas's anti-Israel propaganda campaign. The reporter, Declan Walsh, is one of the Times reporters who has covered the [...]